Gaming -- of all sorts -- distinguishes the new sort-of-thriller, Adam Randall's LEVEL UP

One of those ever-more-plentiful what's-going-on-here-and-why? movies, the new would-be thriller/suspense film, LEVEL UP, takes a typically irresponsible male, who would rather spend his time drinking, drugging and gaming than working for a living, and puts him through one hell of a day or so in the service of... what, exactly? Our entertainment, one would guess. But that means you would need to be pretty heavily into gaming yourself before finding worthwhile this over-reaching combo of an early David Fincher film, The Game, and its more recent online cousin, Nerve.

As directed and co-written (with Gary Young) by Adam Randall, shown at left, the movie and its WTF plot seems initially pretty silly before turning serious and then even life-threatening. Our non-hero, Matt (played by Josh Bowman, below, left) gets off on his usual morning of doing damned little but slouching around and maybe playing video games. Then, just after his girlfriend leaves for work, he has his day interrupted by three hooded fellows who do some very naughty things.

And yet, no matter how horrible life becomes for poor Matt, this viewer could not shake the sense that everything going on here was one big, complicated and maybe pointless game. Along the way various scenarios present themselves, coming either via the film itself or perhaps from the several other movies we've seen that have played similar games:

Because his girlfriend has suddenly been kidnapped, Matt must then go all over the place and do all kind of weird things to save her life. Is all this merely the adventures of a poor shnook or schmuck being used for nefarious purposes? Maybe. But, really now, if you want someone killed, would you have to go to this much complicated trouble to do the job?

Or maybe this is some kind of treatise on the evils/perils of too much gaming (as Nerve tried so hard to be)? Or a cautionary tale about how the Internet is taking over our lives? Or could it really be about... surveillance? Or this: After a time of being around a bunch of numbskull males, one begins to wonder if the whole idea and plot has been concocted by a group of women who have grown thoroughly fed up with their dim-bulb men.

Matt's adventures takes him from one oddball place and person to another, and Mr. Bowman, who is in just about every scene in the film, certainly proves to be game. Some of the other males and females have their moments, too. Little by little, that plot begins to offer a few revelations, though nothing that quite pinpoints exactly what is going on. At least not for a very long time.

This is probably for the better, since mysteries are almost always more fun than their resolutions. The movie looks snappy, too; it's well filmed and edited, and the performances are as good as the concept and characters call for. Over all, I could have done without it -- though perhaps I've already seen too many films a little too much like this one. You younger folk may have more patience -- due to having less of a catalog/backlog of movie memories to weigh the film down.

In any case, Level Up -- from filmbuff and running 84 minutes -- will open tomorrow, Friday, August 26, for a week-long run in a dozen theaters in a dozen cities across the country, including  New York (at the Cinema Village), Los Angeles (at the Downtown Independent), and Austin (Alamo Drafthouse, Slaughter Lane). Look for it in Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Milwaukee, San Francisco/San Jose, Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Detroit, too. On September 26, the film will make its nationwide VOD debut.

Time-waster worth watching: WILD CARD -- West & Goldman's ode to addiction & justice

The first thing you may notice about WILD CARD is how leisurely it rolls along, especially considering that it stars Jason Statham in another of his many action-hero roles. Never uninteresting -- not for a moment -- the movie still ambles and zig-zags blithely on its way, stopping now and again for one those expected action set-pieces, each of which is very nicely done, though no more or less believable than any other action-heroics of recent times. Yet the movie works pleasantly and smartly enough to qualify as decent entertainment, thanks mostly to Statham's grace in both action (below) and repose (at bottom: he's quieter and more thoughtful here than I've seen him in some time) and to a more unusual screenplay than we are used to getting in this genre, by a fellow named William Goldman.

Mr. Goldman, a rather famous screenwriter (Butch Cassidy..., The Princess Bride and author of that immortal line about the industry, "Nobody knows anything"), has here written a journeyman screenplay filled with interesting characters and situations that wax and wane with a different rhythm than usual for this genre and allow for some good actors to register strongly in a bunch of nearly-throw-away roles.

These would include the likes of Hope Davis (below, as a casino dealer); Jason Alexander (above), as a helpful friend;

Anne Heche, below, right, as a friendly waitress (Ms Heche gets two scenes in the film);

Stanley Tucci (below, in a terrific hairpiece), as a casino owner (of possibly gay predilection) called Baby;

and a interesting young actress named Dominik Garcia-Lorrido (below, who spends most of the film looking very beaten-up and who, according to the IMDB, turns out to be the daughter of Andy Garcia) in the pivotal role of an abused prostitute who wants vengeance.

Directed professionally and economically by Simon West, the film's plot takes in themes of addiction, con games, justice, and finding oneself -- and if it does not deepen these to any extent, it at least gives them a decent hearing, while providing a nice forum for Statham's abilities as action star and actor-in-progress.

That's Sofia Vergara, above, looking as beautiful as ever, but this time in a role in which she seems sweeter than usual. (Most of these actors have but a single scene, yet, together they register as an enjoyable group.)

Also in the starry cast is Michael Angarano (above) as a young man who hires the Statham character as a protector/guide, and as usual Angarano proves equal to the task while adding extra interest to the proceedings.

No great shakes, of course, and yet, while been-there-done-that would seem to hang over this movie, by the end, it has become something a little different -- and pleasantly welcome. Wild Card, from Lionsgate and run-ning 92 minutes, is out now on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and digital platforms.

From South Korea: action, violence and the game of GO in Jo Bum-gu's twisty THE DIVINE MOVE

Making its DVD/Blu-ray debut (it looks quite good in the latter format), THE DIVINE MOVE, from South Korean filmmaker Jo Bum-gu (aka Cho Beom-gu on the IMDB) turns out to be a revenge thriller incorporating everything from violent action to low-end comedy, romance and especially gaming (both meanings: game-playing and conning), with the game of GO played throughout.

Never fear: If you have not played GO (as I have not), you can still follow the movie easily, and there is much to enjoy in the visual flair with which the director, shown at left, informs his film -- along with the screenplay from Yu Sung-hyub, his first, which is full of fun, fighting and family matters, in addition to chapter headings that appear to be taken from The Art of War -- or maybe The Art of GO. Whichever, the film begins with a Go championship, soon after which, the loser, a young man with a no-good older brother who seem to be constantly getting into jams, is tricked into helping his brother cheat to win an important playoff. Unfortunately, the other player is also cheating. (In this movie, just about every game is played by four people: the two obvious players and two more hidden from view who can electronically give their legal counterparts advice.)

The outcome of all this sends out hero to prison, where he manages to learn martial arts, as well as practicing his gaming. When he finally gets out, our nerdy, puny guy has turned into a ripped and sexy action hero played by Jung Woo-sung (standing, above, whom you may remember from The Good, the Bad, the Weird).

The mostly low-level comedy is provided by a character (Kim In-kwon, center, above) who earlier crapped out on older brother and has a motor mouth most often in use.

Romance comes via a good-looking young woman (Lee Si-young, at right), in hock to the film's major bad guy (a fine and frightening Lee Beom-sum, below, left). Along the way, our hero also recruits a couple of other characters necessary to his plans -- a blind but very talented GO player, and another fellow missing a hand who nonetheless comports himself quite well in the construction and fighting modes.

At times the film resembles an Asian version of either the older or newer Ocean's 11, what with the various crew members chosen for their particular skill and smarts.

The movie even introduces a poor, abused child (below), evidently kidnapped into gaming slavery due to her great skill at GO. But this is not a social protest movie. It ticks off various situations in passing but does nothing more with each of them than what any movie devoted to action and thrills would manage.

Mr. Jo keeps that action alternating nicely with the violence, comedy, gaming and romance, and the result is a fine and frisky couple of hours featuring a number of nice set pieces -- such as the game and fight that take place in a warehouse, below, in which the temperature keeps plummeting and escape seems unlikely.

The Divine Move, from CJ Entertainment and running just under two hours, hits the streets on DVD and Blu-ray this coming Tuesday, March 17 -- for sale and/or rental.